Physics in Film

I really enjoyed this movie. Among the recent superhero flicks I would put this near the top along with the X-Men movies.

For a “Physics in Film” class, obviously the whole superhero genre requires at least some suspension of our disbelief; otherwise there wouldn’t be anything particularly “super” to cheer about. Still, some superhero movies stretch credulity quite a bit further than others. In that regard, “Iron Man” is certainly not the worst. In fact, there are places in the movie where real physics actually causes problems for our hero, such as when his suit ices over on his first high-altitude test flight or when he crashes through the roof of his home because it can’t support his weight.

Assignment: Although we must be willing to accept some flaunting of the laws of physics to truly enjoy movies such as “Iron Man,” I still expect you as students of physics to be able to spot the flaws. For this week’s assignment I want you to watch a superhero movie (it doesn’t have to be “Iron Man”), and analyze the physics of at least three of the hero’s powers. As an example, for a character like Iceman (from the X-men movies), you could ask how much heat has to be removed from the air for Iceman to create an entire wall of ice from the water vapor in the air (as in X2)? As a follow-up question, one has to wonder where all that heat goes. Does Iceman absorb it? If so, how much would his body temperature have to rise as a consequence? If your chosen superhero doesn’t exhibit at least three different powers of their own, then pick additional superheroes and analyze one superpower for each.

Please post your entry to your blog by Monday, 24 Nov.

I hope all of you have heard about this event already. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from a Hollywood insider!

On Monday, November 3, at 6:30pm in Physician’s Auditorium, Dr. Doug Roble will present a talk “The Science of the Magic of the Movies.” Dr. Roble is a software engineer with Digital Domain, a California based special-effects firm. His firm has worked on such recent movies as “Speed Racer” and “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” Dr. Roble will describe the science involved in making realistic looking special effects.

I thought I’d share a link to a physics blog a colleague pointed me to today. The blog is called “Cocktail Party Physics.” You might enjoy reading the post on “Prime Time Science” which reviews the science content of many current prime-time television shows.

Remember when I told you in class that people will sometimes try to prey on your ignorance and convince you of things that simply aren’t true, and they often make their arguments sound plausible by using scientific terms and “facts?” Well, another example of this are those who promulgate the myth that NASA never landed astronauts on the Moon. The FOX network helped the cause a few years ago by producing a show called “Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon?”. Fortunately, there are scientists and other respectable parties who have taken the time to rebut these theories. For instance, Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy page deals quite straightforwardly with this controversy. And now the “MythBusters” television show has added their own contribution to debunking this myth. Their “NASA Moon Landing” episode originally aired on the Discovery Channel last night, but is scheduled to repeat again tonight. Here is the programming schedule for “MythBusters” for this week.

After you create your blogs in class next Thursday (9/4), be sure to send me the address so I can add you to my blogroll. If you do not wish for your blog to be viewable by other members of the class, please inform me so that I can make a private link to your blog (so that only I can see it). If you have further privacy concerns regarding your blog, please bring them up with Mendi Benigni next week in class, and she can discuss additional security measures you can take.

This week there are 2 “homework” tasks you need to accomplish:

1. Take the “start of term survey.” Click here to take survey.

2. Sign up for an edublogs account here.

Both of these need to be done by next week (2 Sep).

Hey, just for fun, here’s a cool link one of my former students shared with me this morning – The Physics of Batman. It’s a review by Adam Weiner, author of “Don’t Try This At Home: The Physics of Hollywood Movies,” of some of the physics in the latest Batman movie “The Dark Knight.”

Welcome to PHYS 298 – “Physics in Film!” It’s about time to start the Fall 2008 semester here at the College of Charleston. I’m looking forward to some fun discussions! How about you?